Black Drive
by Dark Goddess1
Summary: GouGou Sentai Boukenger: The Next Generation based fic. Souta and Rin's wedding day has arrived, but it's not without its fair share of drama.
1. Heart of Blue, Heart of Black

**Full Title**: "Black Drive"

**Autho**r: Trinity

**Series**: GouGou Sentai Boukenger/GouGou Sentai Boukenger: The Next Generation

**Rating**: PG-13, with swearing, sexual content and dramatic elements

**Pairings**: Belle "Rin" Inou/Souta Mogami, Kei Takaoka /Satoru Akashi, Eiji Takaoka/Sakura Nishihori-, Natsuki Mamiya/Masumi Inou, Aurora "Hikari" Inou/Kando Takaoka, with appearances by Satoshi Akashi, Tsubasa Mogami, Sakurako (Little Miss Voice), Makino-sensei, Kaze no Shizuka and Zuban.

**Summary:** Can Rin and Souta overcome the ghosts of their pasts to walk down the aisle together?

**Spoiler Alert**: This fan fiction miniseries, takes place after the end of the main story of "GouGou Sentai Boukenger: The Next Generation" (and before the second of its three epilogues). It spoils both the fic and the entire series of GouGou Sentai Boukenger, including the movie "GouGou Sentai Boukenger The Movie: Saikyou no Precious".

Prologue: "Heart of Blue, Heart of Black"

"Rin-chan, wait!" Akashi-Takaoka Kei screamed as she chased her best friend, Inou Belle, affectionately called "Rin" out of the small church. "Rin-chan! STOP!"

But Rin didn't stop. She simply picked up the skirt of her white wedding gown and ran down the street, tears falling down her cheek, accentuating her running mascara. Kei could still hear her sobbing and she eventually gave up, pausing and placing a hand on her swollen stomach. She gasped.

"Kei!" Akashi Satoru, Kei's husband, called, having caught up with her. "Are you all right?"

Kei exhaled and looked up at her husband. She shook her head, too winded to speak. "Rin-chan…. she bailed. On her own wedding! What sort of bride leaves her groom at the altar?"

Satoru and Kei turned back to the entrance of the church and saw the small assembled party and then watched slowly as Mogami Souta emerged from the crowd and watched as his bride to be ran down the street and vanished from view.

Souta wasn't the type to cry in public or to show any signs of something being wrong, but as he stood there and watched the love of his life vanish into the distance, a tear slowly made its way down his cheek.

Rin ran until her legs gave out and she just collapsed. She couldn't make herself do it. She couldn't marry Souta in good conscience. She just couldn't. She crawled into a park and sat on an empty swing, her body racked with soft sobs. She could still hear the taunting calls of her past, "Inou Baka! Inou Baka!" and she remembered those lonely days from childhood when she was known as Inou Baka or "Idiot Inou". She remembered being an awkward, clumsy, somewhat ugly young child, who was always getting into some kind of mess and how much she suffered for being a klutz. She remembered Kei always being there to help her. And she remembered wondering, would she ever become a beautiful swan, like her "super cute sister".

And then she remembered looking in the mirror earlier that morning and being unable to recognize herself. And then she wondered about what Souta would think of her. She wondered if Souta would look at her or treat her the same if she was beautiful today and then went back to her usual self. She knew he loved beautiful girls. Would he still love her once he saw her as she truly was? Would he still love her when she went back to being "Baka Inou"?

Rin swung back and forth slowly and cried, her tears staining her dress. She looked up to the sky and sighed. How stupid could she be to believe that she could leave the image of Baka Inou behind?


	2. The Memories We Create Together

Chapter One

The Memories We Create Together…

(this is a chapter with a few more adult scenes in it than the rest of the fic)

Rin sighed as she pushed herself back and forth on the swing, looking up at the sky. She wanted so much to erase everything and just forget her past ever happened. She wanted to forget the mean words, the depression, the cutting, the pain and the seemly endless feelings of worthlessness. She wanted so much to believe that Souta could truly give her everything her heart could possibly desire and that he could make her dreams come true. But some part of her new that it wouldn't be like that. Not once Souta saw her as she was now. He'd never look at her the same way again.

Maybe accepting his proposal of marriage was a bad idea after all.

She was beginning to believe that being trapped in the past was the worst thing that could have happened to her. All she wanted was to go home and lay her head in her mother's lap and cry until there was nothing left in her. Rin sighed and pushed herself again, rising slowly into the air and she began to miss her mother. If she closed her eyes and thought real hard, she could almost her mother's song.

_Technically speaking, Natsuki was now in her late 30's, but unlike her husband and friends she seemed untouched by age, looking every bit as beautiful as she did when she was a girl. She ran a small flower shop, Flowers of Lemuria, and turned out, despite having no experience with selling items, to be a good florist. The shop was a moderate success and Natsuki hoped she could give it to Rin or Hikari someday._

_One afternoon, Natsuki was calmly cutting the stems on some fresh roses for a customer's order, when Rin came into the shop, looking as though her world was collapsing._

_Natsuki immediately looked up at the sound of her daughter crying. "Oh, my Rin-chan, what's wrong?"_

_Rin didn't bother to look at her mother, she just ran upstairs to her room._

_Natsuki sighed. She wondered what Rin could possibly have done to deserve all the teasing she got. Rin was 15 now, no longer burdened with braces or her skinny frame. She was beautiful to Natsuki. Why couldn't those nasty classmates see that?_

_After cutting the roses and placing them in a vase to keep them fresh, Natsuki headed upstairs to tend to her older child. Perhaps Rin just missed Kei. The Takaoka girl had, because of her ridiculous level of intelligence, already graduated high school and was in the SGS training program to become a Boukenger. The program had taken her to some of Japan's northern islands to train and she was unable to contact Rin or anyone back home. Kei and Rin had been close since childhood and this was the longest they'd been apart, since Kei had been gone for a month and a half._

_It seemed like the logical thing, but Natsuki knew that Rin was layered, just like her father and things were never as they seemed with either one._

"_Rin-chan?" Natsuki knocked gently. "Did something happen at school today? You didn't start throwing punches again, did you?"_

_No answer. Normally, Natsuki wouldn't probe, knowing that her daughter would come to her when she was ready, but this was the sixth time this had happened this week and it was only Wednesday. She sincerely hoped that Rin wasn't cutting herself or something again. "Rin-chan?" Natsuki asked, knocking on the door._

_A heartbroken sob answered the former Strong Adventurer's inquiry and Natsuki gently pushed the door open and saw her daughter lying on the bed sobbing._

"_Rin-chan, what's wrong?" Natsuki asked, coming into the room and closing the door behind her._

"_Sayuri humiliated me in front of Makito, that boy I like in my class. She found out I liked him and then read him this haiku I had written for him right in front of him. She swiped it from one of my books." Rin sniffled. "He began laughing and asked me why would I ever think that he could possibly be interested in me." Rin hiccupped. "I was much too ugly to even consider it." She began bawling again and Natsuki groaned. She'd had a particular issue with this Sayuri girl, named for the protagonist of _Memoirs of a Geisha_, but behaved more like Hatsumoto, the antagonist of the book. But Sayuri's mother believed Sayuri's lies about her relationship with Rin and Natsuki had been unable to do much about Sayuri._

_Sayuri had been torturing Rin since kindergarten and Natsuki was quite sick of watching her older child suffer._

_Rin paused in her tears and then said. "Then he asked me what sort of crazy person names their child Belle and if my mother was high when she named me."_

_Natsuki was livid now. "MASUMI!"_

_Masumi came into the room. "What? Natsuki, I have a deadline!"_

"_Masumi, can you call Matsumoto Sayuri's mother, and tell her that her daughter is a righteous bitch and has been tormenting my child since she was six? I HAVE PROOF NOW!"_

_Masumi sighed. "Natsuki, my deadline…"_

"_Masumi, OUR DAUGHTER!"_

_Masumi threw up his hands. "All right, all right!" He disliked being interrupted from writing the magazine and news articles he did freelance in between his novels and children's books. "I'll call her and yell at her for you!"_

_She smiled gently and nodded. "Thank you, Masumi."_

_Masumi sighed. "Cute one minute, demanding the next…Natsuki I can't keep up with you anymore…"_

_Natsuki let Rin rest her head in her lap and cry for a while._

"_Mama, it's not fair. I'm pretty too, aren't I?"_

_Natsuki smiled. "Of course you are. I've always thought so."_

"_So why haven't I found my Prince?"_

"_Because finding Princes takes time." Natsuki chided gently. "I had to wait 10,000 years for mine." She smiled and stroked Rin's hair. "One day, you will find someone who will love you completely. The way your father loves me and you and your sister. That person will love you because of what you have to offer on the inside. The outside's just a bonus. I promise you, Rin-chan, when you find someone special like that you'll know. I promise." Natsuki sighed. "You know, I always knew that your father was the one for me. Always. I knew from the moment I opened my eyes and saw him. It just…took him a while to figure it out. He was the only thing I knew and a life without him…seemed like no life at all. I knew he felt the same way."_

"_How did you know, Mama?"_

"_It was in his wedding vows when we got married…and he put it in his book." Natsuki laughed. "Your father always was a little bad with feelings." _

_Rin smiled softly._

"_Cheer up, my Rin-chan." Natsuki said. "Your Prince is out there…somewhere. Just waiting for you." _

_Rin nodded and sighed as her mother began to sing a soft lullaby to her, her eyes closing as she fell asleep._

The memory echoed in Rin's head as the rain began to fall and Rin just sat there on the swing, getting soaked and trying not to cry. Her heart felt like it had been twisted into a painful knot. She missed her mother's soft words and touch, the gentleness of her singing. She wanted nothing more than to just go home now, her heart feeling heavier with each beat.

But then, she wondered….

_While I am sitting here feeling sorry for myself, how does Souta feel? I left him at the altar…he must think I don't love him at all…_

Souta sat there on the church steps after telling everyone to go back to the museum, not really caring that his tuxedo was wet and somewhat ruined. His wedding day had been ruined and he couldn't understand why Rin had run away. He thought she loved him, cared for him. He thought she was happy with him. What had gone wrong? Had he done something?

Had he made her cry?

He hated the idea of making people sad, even though he knew that it was something he had done in the past. He'd loved the life of a spy…until he realized what he'd done…the people he hurt…that little princess…

He'd wanted so much to start over and begin a life with Rin, to marry her and have children…a family. He thought Rin wanted those things too. Had she changed her mind?

Or, after all they'd endured together, had she suddenly decided to go home without him?

He'd saved her from Yaiba's spell and cared for her when no one else wanted to go near her, afraid that the influence of Yami no Shizuka would still be there. He'd nursed her back to health. He loved her more than anything or anyone else and was willing to leave his own time behind so he could be with her. He had no family, after all, just a cat…nothing to lose. If Rin stayed behind, she'd never see her parents or little sister again and he couldn't make her do that.

She'd never stop crying and that would break Souta's heart.

Not that it wasn't already broken, but still…

He remembered her coming out of the dark spell Yaiba had cast and how vulnerable she looked. He remembered how scared she was, how upset…and how she took comfort in his arms. He'd always wanted to protect a woman from harm, but he had never been inundated with the task of protecting a woman from herself before. Yami no Shizuka had been a dangerous opponent and Souta could never be sure if she was safely tucked away in the darkest corner of Rin's mind.

It was a risk he had to take and for Rin, the risk was everything. He knew that Yami no Shizuka was never coming back… unless…

"She still loves you, you know." The voice was somewhat cold and condescending, but there was a hint of amusement. "It's just that, Belle-chan has demons she didn't count on dealing with. Demons that are much stronger than little 'ol me."

"Yami no Shizuka!" Souta yelled, whirling around. "Where are you?!"

Yami no Shizuka sighed. "Right now, I can't be seen since there's no shadows for me to hide in. But don't worry. I'm not as evil as I was."

Souta wasn't too happy with the idea that Yami no Shizuka was still around, but he calmed down. Apparently she was less of a threat without a body. "Anyway, Souta, Rin loves you to bits and pieces. More than you could possibly know. She just…has issues." 

"What kind of issues?" Souta asked.

"Self-image issues." Yami no Shizuka replied. "When she was a kid, she was a little…how do you say it…funny looking. Masumi-san made her get braces and she was all skinny and awkward. Other children made fun of her something fierce. It was a nightmare. She was so upset over it that she believed that she'd never find someone who'd love her…at least not someone like you. You…whether you know it or not, are the best thing to come into her life since Kei. And that…would be saying something."

"You lie."

"And you're a slut. You bounced around from woman to woman and a few men just to find someone who loved you. You wanted to make up for all those lives you ruined and all those tears that were shed. But no relationship satisfied you the way she does, not even the one you share with Myuu. Are you really content to go back to that?"

Her words stung.

"How would you know such things?"

"Because I live inside Rin. I'm no longer a threat; I'm content to just watch. I heard you tell her such things. Rin loves you something fierce, you know and I know you love her. She needs you. Now, more than ever, she needs your love. Don't let your fear or her fear ruin you both…. what good will that do?"

_It had been a while since Souta's heart had been so full. He'd only known the lovely Rin for a short time, since her chaotic arrival into his life, but already, she'd impacted him deeply. She seemed moody, but shy and somewhat friendly, with a cute, but rarely seen smile and the same demeanor of Masumi. Normally, such things wouldn't allure Souta so, but Rin did. She was absolutely fascinating and being with her…was incredibly fulfilling and satisfying. Could he fall in love so quickly with a woman he barely knew?_

_Souta pondered these thoughts as Rin dozed off beside him in his bedroom, her body contentedly wrapped in his blue SGS jacket and his warm comforter, her black hair falling into her face. She was absolutely adorable. He sighed as he took her in and stroked her hair, caressing the warm cheek. He was no stranger to bedding ladies on the first date, but this girl…she was different. Something made her so much different than the other girls he'd gone out with. Was it her charm? Her good looks? Or…was it something else?  
_

_It had to be something else besides the standard things otherwise he'd have hit on Hikari or Kei. He figured he'd never figure it out, so he decided to just leave it be and enjoy the attraction and let everything else go. One day it would come to him, he was sure of it._

_Suddenly, Rin's eyes opened and she sat up. "Souta-sensei?" She inquired. "Is there something wrong?"_

_Souta gave the second Fast Adventurer a smile to light the world and gently kissed the tip of her nose. "Nothing wrong, Rin-chan. And you don't have to call me 'Souta-sensei.' Souta will do."_

"_I see." Rin had sighed and curled back up against him. "You're warm, Souta…  
She murmured as she fell back asleep. "…so warm…"_

_Judging by the way she curled around his strong body, she must have felt safe, too and Souta's heart melted a little, curling around her body and enveloping her in a cocoon of warm flesh and the blossomings of love. If it was warmth she wanted, then it was warmth she'd get._

Souta sighed as he remembered how warm Rin had felt next to him and sighed, looking up into the cloudy grey sky. Rin's love had fed his starving heart and made the pain he'd felt for so long go away. Did he make her pain go away? Did he make her feel beautiful and validated? Did he love her the way she wanted to be loved?

He remembered hearing Rin drop hints about her childhood, but she'd never told him what Yami no Shizuka had confessed to him. Suddenly, her resentment of Kei and Hikari and what had driven her to adopt the Yami no Shizuka persona made sense. Rin had been humiliated and abused by her peers as a child because she was ugly to them and then constantly compared to her best friend and sister. It would drive him to become a murderous lunatic, too.

Suddenly, he remembered the incident from a month ago and how Rin had come back into the Museum, dressed in a gown and crying. He'd never been able to find out what happened but he learned from Hikari that Rin had been ridiculed while in a dress shop and the sales ladies had made such remarks like "Who'd marry someone as homely as her?"

Souta would. He loved Rin, no matter what she looked like. He always would. So what was she so afraid of?

"That you won't look at her the same once you see her in a wedding gown." Yami no Shizuka replied. "That is why she ran away. When she looked at herself in the mirror before going to the back of the church, she failed to recognize herself. She looked really pretty, though and was afraid that once you, the lover of pretty girls, saw her as she could truly be, as a beautiful girl, that you would not love her once she was back to being her normal self."

"But that's silly…I love her no matter what she looks like. Why wouldn't I want to see her in her gown?" He was hurt that Rin thought he could be so shallow. "I'm not like that."

"Tell me something then, Souta. Have you ever dated someone who looks like Rin before? Skinny, emotional, with greasy hair and a self-confidence problem?"

"No,"

"Have all the girls you dated been pretty and superficial?"

"Yes, but…"

"That's why she thinks you might be like that." Yami no Shizuka sounded smug. "Now, tell me something else. Why are you attracted to her?"

"Because…she's…special. There was something about her that I really liked and it wasn't physical. Her heart…it resonated with mine." His heart pattered a little and he realized that to him, Rin was more beautiful than any girl he'd dated.

"_Rin-chan, are you coming out of the bathroom?" Souta called, tapping into his laptop as he sat on his bed. "I thought you were tired!"_

_Rin peeked out of the bathroom. "I don't know if I want you to see me in this robe…it's kind of big. And it makes me look skinny."_

"_Nonsense!" Souta said, cheerfully. "Come out and let me see for myself!"_

_Rin slowly emerged from the bathroom, dressed in a flattering black silk robe that accentuated her curves, her hair loose and wavy from her earlier experiment with curlers. Her cheeks were bright red. "What do you think, Souta-sensei?"_

_Souta closed his laptop and set it aside. _

_Rin twirled around for his benefit, giggling and she smiled. _

"_So?"_

"_You look beautiful." Souta said with a sigh. "Really, really beautiful." He cocked his head. "And that's not even what I was hoping to see." He slid off the bed to take Rin into his arms and kissed her softly, carefully undoing the sash around her waist._

_He took a moment to side the robe off her slim body and he smiled. "__**NOW**__ you look beautiful." He said._

_Rin's eyes widened at being so exposed so suddenly and she moved to cover herself up and Souta's hands gripping her wrists stopped her. "No, it's all right, Belle-chan." He soothed her. "It's all right." He embraced her to him, kissing her and bringing her to rest on his bed. "I won't hurt you…"_

"_Oh…Souta-sensei…."_

Rin's heart, for some reason, resonated with Souta's and they sang a mutual song together, in perfect harmony…no wonder Souta wanted to come home with Rin. He didn't want to sing a lonely song.

And did Rin want to sing a lonely song as well? Or did she want to create new memories with him?


	3. Just Trust In Our Love

Black Drive

Chapter Two:

"Just Trust In Our Love"

_Souta's hands were sure, skilled and his voice was soothing to Rin's ears. She felt safe while she was with him and he made sure that she felt no pain. Her hands trailed up the smooth skin of his bare back, her nails digging into the skin in some spots, her voice unable to function correctly, for all she could get out were quiet moaning noises and the occasional high-pitched cry. His skin felt warm to her, his touch gentle. She could almost feel the love, almost reach out and touch the emotions they shared behind each and very warm caress, every soft kiss. It was like heaven on earth._

_Or they could be floating…Rin was never sure as to what it was Souta was up to, but right at the moment, she could have sworn…that she was floating. Her heart was certainly floating…higher and higher…and swaying to Souta's pull._

"_I love you, Inou Belle…"_

The warmth the memory provided was cut short by the feeling of damp, cold silk on Rin's skin. Her dress and body were soaked to the bone, her hair stuck to her face and her veil lay on the grass, forgotten. She looked as though she was the one who'd been left at the altar, but in reality…her heart was broken and so was Souta's. She wasn't about to run back to him and beg for forgiveness.

"Rin-chan?"

For a moment, Rin forgot where she was and looked up. "Mama?"

It was the much younger Natsuki, who gave Rin a tiny smile. "I'm not your Mama, you know."

Rin's eyes watered again. "I want my mother…" She wept, placing her face in her hands and crying again.

Natsuki's eyes widened. "Rin-chan, what's the matter? Why'd you leave?" She bit her lip and began to think like a mother (or at least try to). Then, it came to her. She knelt in the dirt and gave Rin a tight hug, allowing her to cry into Natsuki's yellow dress.

"Rin-chan, what happened?" Natsuki asked. "You seemed all ready and all set to marry Souta-san…did you stop loving him or something?"

"No…" Rin's voice was about as small as she felt. "I was insulted for the first time in a long time…and my emotions couldn't take it. It took me forever to get away from the bad memories of the past…and they came right back to bite me on the butt."

"What memories?"

"When I was a kid, I was kind of skinny, awkward, clumsy…and then Dad made me get braces to straighten my teeth and I inherited his black hair, which was oily a lot, so I looked kind of messy…and people took an almost sick pleasure in making fun of me or taunting me or humiliating me to the point in which…" Rin inhaled. "I left my private high school to undergo Boukenger training with Kei and Hikari and them…. it was such a nice change of pace…. and I thought I could leave it all behind…" She sighed. "Last month I went into this bridal shop with Zuban and Hikari to look for a gown to wear for today." She laughed. "Zuban picked this out and I bought it…but after seeing the way Hikari was treated…. it just…" She sighed.

_It was a horrible thing, to hate one's sibling, but Rin often found herself at that point whenever she was told to take Hikari with her and was accompanied by Kei. It stung bad enough when guys would stop and flirt with Kei and then complimented her for being gracious enough to spend time with someone as "unattractive" as Rin._

_It got exponentially worse when Hikari was with them. Hikari looked like Natsuki at a younger age a good deal of the time and everyone commented on how cute or adorable or pretty Hikari was. And then, when they noticed Rin, they would remark about how Rin had been badly shortchanged by genetics. Or something nasty. No matter how much Rin tried to block it out, it came back…and she was always upset to hear it._

_One particular afternoon, Hikari and Rin had gone out shopping for Hikari's school uniform and Rin had come across Sayuri and her "posse". _

"_Look, everyone, its Baka Inou." Sayuri said, coldly. _

_Rin had tried, she really did, to ignore it all and then Hikari had come out wearing her uniform and went "Nee-chan, how do I look?"_

_Sayuri took one look at Hikari and then Rin and then Rin felt like she was going to die on the spot._

"_That cannot be your little sister, Baka Inou." Sayuri said. "She's too cute to have any of your genes."_

_Rin's cheeks turned a burning red color and then she tried to move away from Sayuri and wound up crashing into three clothes racks, falling and then everything came down on top of her._

"_Nee-chan!" Hikari wasted no time in running to her sister's side._

"_You see, girls? Not only is she ugly, she's also a clumsy fool, aren't you, Baka Inou? And she does have a cuter sister. Hey, you should come to school in your sister's place." Sayuri's voice was scathing. "After all, you'd be much nicer to look at then Baka Inou." Sayuri laughed and left._

"_Are you okay, nee-chan?" Hikari asked. _

_Rin didn't respond right away. She just placed her head on the carpet and cried._

"Everyone always figured out, usually, that Hikari was my little sister. I hated it when they did because they always told her how pretty she looked. Then when they saw me..." Rin sighed. "No one ever, with the exception of Mama or Papa, ever said that I was beautiful. Souta-sensei…he was the first person who did."

Natsuki nodded. "I see."

"When those women made fun of me in the dress shop, it was like being in high school without Kei-chan all over again. See, people were scared of Kei because when she was a kid, she had a nasty temper…but she was ahead of me in school and graduated early, opting to do that Boukenger training thing…I was upset at her for leaving, but I knew that Kei-chan wouldn't be satisfied with a regular job or career. She wanted something more…and who was I to hold her back?"

"So, you never said anything…"

Rin nodded. "I was so happy when she came back and offered to take me with her. I wanted to go…I couldn't wait to pack my bags. And I left and never looked back…" She looked at her soaked hands and wept. "And now, it's all come back to ruin it all. I couldn't look at myself in the mirror without wanting to scream. I tried to block it all out but just that simple remark sounded like Sayuri's voice in my head tormenting me and telling me that once Souta saw me as a gorgeous bride and then Baka Inou…he'd never want to be near me again…once he came to his senses…"

"That's silly." Natsuki said. "Natsuki knows that Souta-san loves you like no other. He was so upset when he watched you run away. Natsuki thinks he cried a little."

"Souta cried?" Rin asked, her heart falling into her chest. Her stomach twisted into knots. Her voice grew smaller. "He cried?"

"Well, he didn't cry openly, but Natsuki saw a tear roll down his cheek." Natsuki sighed. "Natsuki thinks that Rin-chan isn't the only one hurting today."

Rin had stopped listening a while ago and thought long and hard. Was this really what she wanted to do? Did she really want to hurt Souta this way and in the same fashion, herself? Were her personal demons worth denying herself a lifetime of happiness in the arms of someone who loved her?

_Are you content to let Sayuri win?_ The idea of letting the very bitch who'd made Rin's school years a veritable hell, win filled Rin with rage and she leapt up, shocking Natsuki.

"Rin-chan?!"

Rin grabbed her veil and started to run, her tears blinding her vision (or it could have been the rain, she wasn't sure). She could hear Natsuki calling her, but was too far away to hear what Natsuki was saying.

_SOUTA-SENSEI!_

"_I love you, Mogami Souta." Rin had whispered the words while she thought that Souta was asleep, but he had heard her murmured declaration of love. It warmed him in places where he thought he could never be warmed. Her love was something so strong that he could almost reach out and grab it as it enveloped him and pulled him under. But that was okay. He'd be okay…as long as she was with him._

"Souta-sensei!"

Yami no Shizuka chuckled. "I guess that's my cue to leave."

Souta stood up from his place on the church steps and squinted, looking around. He thought he heard Rin calling for him. Sometimes, she called him "Souta-sensei" in place of "Souta". "Rin-chan?!"

Suddenly, a soaking wet figure in white appeared out of the shimmering haze. "Souta-sensei." It murmured.

It was Rin.

"Rin-chan…" 

"Forgive me, Souta." She murmured. "I never should have left." She looked at her feet. "I should have told you everything, but that meant opening wounds that I wanted to heal." She sighed. "I will understand if you never want…"

Souta's kiss sealed her mouth closed and her heart soared.

"I love you no matter what." He murmured.

Rin wept with joy and embraced him and he twirled her around and around, and they kissed over and over…their hearts beating in a steady, happy, unified rhythm.

"I love you, Inou Rin…"

She smiled.

"I love you too, Mogami Souta."


End file.
